As beautifully drawn as some construction plans are, when brought toapplication in the field problems are inevitable. The more complex the project the more frequent, extensive, and costly the questions.

In this article, we will discuss best practices for writing a clear RFI that provides answers that are more timely and favorable to our projects.

Perfection is not when there is no more to add, but no more to take away. - Antonie de Saint-Exupery

What do you want out of life?

If asked this question, we may have different answers, but at the root of our responses is typically the desire for more money, more time, and less stress.

With that being the case, does the accumulation of more "stuff" get us there?

In this article, we will cover four common areas that unintentionally clutter our lives while we search for satisfaction, and how a quick purge of these will provide instant returns on well-being, time, and money.

Construction Project Manager's are in constant need of quickly accessible tools to provide documentation of daily communication, clarification for RFI's/submittals/change orders...etc, and additional oversight on their work to maintain a level of professionalism and credibility.

In this article, we will be discussing three free tools that provide tremendous benefits to construction project manager's daily. With the power of these systems and the zero-dollar price tag, it is a no-brainer to start leveraging these offers today.

"The customer is always right". "Never argue with the customer". "Give the customer what they want".

We have all heard these age-old phrases and each has some kernel of use in certain situations, but ultimately these sayings can be impossible to maintain when we have five other customers we have promised the moon and finite resources to deliver these promises.

Do you find working 50 and 60 hour weeks exhaustive and depressing? We each enjoy success at work, but desire more time away to spend with family, friends, and other interests.

Would you believe, research on the Pareto Principal supports completing 20% of your current workload and still achieving 80% (and exponentially more) of the results?

In this article, we will discuss how to recognize and leverage small inputs that produce valuable results. As managers, if we do nothing more daily than focus on achieving this critical 20% of tasks, our organizations and lives would thrive, and we would waste less of our most valuable resource, time.

At work, do you find yourself going through your day-to-day activities, only to get home at the end of the day and ask “Is my career meaningful?”

This is a common question that most, if not all, business professionals ask themselves at some point during their career. The key to answering this question is to first look at what you do and identify what about it provides meaning to yourself and to your community. There are several ways to increase your professional well-being, each requiring a deeper look at yourself and what you want to achieve.

Mr. Drucker's statement has rung true in study after study and organization after organization. Research publishedby The Ken Blanchard Companies has shown the average organization is 50% as productive as it should be, due to poor leadership practices.

So, what can we do to make sure our organizations are performing optimally and that we, as managers, are part of the solution rather than the problem? In this article, we will cover 3 key differentiators between bosses and leaders.

Think back to when you started your first job. Can you remember how often your boss or teammates would delegate you items to complete?

At the time, it may have seemed that others were just dumping their workload on you or it may have felt as if you were being handed an opportunity to step up.

Both outcomes are examples of delegation in your life and great teachers of how effective or ineffective managers balance their workloads. So how do we ensure successful delegation on our teams but still maintain control and accountability?